Why JaVale McGee is showing more positive in his play than it appears

The raw numbers are head-scratchers, to be sure. There’s no getting around that.

And yet the sluggish start by JaVale McGee isnâ€™t near as bad as it appears to be. And to many out there it appears to be pretty bad. Defensively itâ€™s a bit worse than it is offensively. But the truth behind McGeeâ€™s 5-of-11 start from the field, just four rebounds and an average of 11.5 average minutes played in the first two games, is the improvement starts (and pretty much ends) in his head.

Maintaining his focus through adversity and more importantly, through fatigue, and sticking to the game plan are two of his biggest areas of concern. Heâ€™s got to stay dialed-in, and heâ€™s working on that.

Letâ€™s start on defense. Defensively, he must stick to the game plan. Must. McGee has had a tendency â€“ as a number of Nuggets have in the first two games â€“ to freelance a bit too much, and that gets him and the team defense in trouble. He is being asked to anchor the Nuggets defense, which in their defense has not been bad, holding opponents to 41.8 percent from the field. The 3-point line has been the teamâ€™s biggest issue with opponents shooting 51.2 percent from there, but that fault pretty much never falls on McGeeâ€™s shoulders.

Inside the arc, in pick-and-roll coverage, heâ€™s asked to stop the guard and drop to insure his man doesnâ€™t get a free roll to the rim â€“ and a layup or dunk as a result. In post-up defense, McGee is still working to stay solid, defend without fouling and stay on the floor on head fakes. He can be a devastating shot blocker, but his discipline has to help him achieve that. Sacramentoâ€™s DeMarcus Cousins is a big enough man to simply overpower McGee on the block, and yet even he went the finesse route on one occasion, pivoting one way and then the other, then hitting McGee with a shot fake, which drew a foul.

Offensively, itâ€™s been a mixed bag. The work heâ€™s put into developing better low-post footwork, slowing down and displaying patience, and into developing hook shots with both hands and a jump shot out to 15-16 feet has been evident. Those moves are in his arsenal, heâ€™s made at least one of each already. They require refinement as he continues to get comfortable taking those shots in games, and, more importantly, correctly reading what the defense is doing in order to get himself into the best position to score.

And right now heâ€™s not drawing double teams, so life on the block wonâ€™t get much easier than this.

On post-ups McGee has kept his cool. His seals have been near perfect, and the offense has helped him with that. Coach Brian Shawâ€™s system has gets him a quick advantage in getting good post-up position by doing things like starting him high and moving him low, or involving him in a screen along the baseline, which he can quickly spin out of and pin the defender on his back. Now, itâ€™s just a matter of making the shots when he takes them, and being more physical than finesse.

â€śI keep talking to him and keep staying positive with him,â€ť Shaw said. â€śThat if he wants to stay on the floor his level of physicality has to increase. His stamina has to increase. I gone from in the preseason I played him stints of eight minutes at a time, now Iâ€™m cutting it down to six or five minutes to just maybe get a good burst during that time and then bring him out before he gets to the point where heâ€™s tired. Because when he has been tired heâ€™s a completely different player and itâ€™s hard for me to keep him out on the floor.

â€śI want him to have more minutes, I want him to have that experience of being in the game in situations when the game is on the line. But like I said last night, he has to earn that trust in me that he can perform and maintain a certain level of physicality when heâ€™s out there.â€ť

Follow Chris Dempsey on Twitter @dempseypost or email him at cdempsey@denverpost.com

it’s different because Karl benched McGee all because of one simple mistake. His leash on McGee is short. Shaw’s leash is much different (in fact, he doesn’t even have a leash).

ABAforever

Nice puff piece. Let’s baby this pro some more. No low post moves whatsoever since ‘working’ with Hakeem Olajuwon over a year ago. He’s nothing more than a help defender, which are a dime a dozen. JaVale looked scared against Cousins in the opener…

We’regonnawin!

I think Jevale is going to improve a lot this year under Shaw, because of Shaw’s patience and more natural leadership ability. Jevale has been anything but babied in the league, he gets a lot of criticism even when he’s not directly responsible for the team’s underperformance. He does have his flaws, and Shaw has pointed those out to him, as well as addressing what they are when asked by the media. He seems to be building up Jevale more than Karl ever did. His criticism seems more constructive than belittling, which in my opinion, is exactly what Jevale needs.

Chris Dempsey arrived at The Denver Post in Dec. 2003 after seven years at the Boulder Daily Camera, where he primarily covered the University of Colorado football and men's basketball teams. A University of Colorado-Boulder alumnus, Dempsey covers the Nuggets and also chips in on college sports.